Flash light



June 17, 1930. c PAJEAU 1,763,815

FLASH LIGHT Filed June 7, 1928 Patented June 17, 1930 v v UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE CHARLES HAMILTON IPAJEAU, OF GLENGOE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE TOY TINKERS, 1

INQ, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS FLASH LIGHT Application filed June 7, 1928. Serial No. 283,492.

My invention relates to flash-lights. and Still further and also more detailed obits main object includes the providing of a jects will appear from the following specificaflash-light which can be handled with less tion and from the accompanying drawings, fatigue to the user than the usual cylindrical, in which 6 type, and the providing of novel and ad- Fig. 1 is a central, vertical and longitu- 65 vantageously arranged switching means .for dinal section through a flash-light embodycontrolling the light. ing my invention, with dotted lines showing Since a flash-light is employed mostly for portions of a hand holding the same, and projecting light either horizontally or downwith the switching member in its offor wardly forward, the customary cylindrical circuit-opening position. 6e

flash-light must be held with the axisof its Fig. 2 is a section similar to the medial casing either substantially horizontal or at portion of 'Fig. 1, but with the switching a downwardly forward inclination, thereby member in its on? or circuit-closing position.

requiring the hand of the user to be 'in a 1 Fig. 3isafragmentary view looking downstrained position which is fatiguing even if ward fromthe line 33 of Fig: 1. 65 the flash-light is horizontally disposed, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section, taken along which is still more fatiguing if the light is the lines,44 of Fig. 3.

projected downwardly. Furthermore, a In the illustrated embodiment, the tubular cylindrical casing needs to be tightly gripped casing of my flash-light comprises a forward to prevent it from sliding out of the hand of tubular section 1, a rearward tubular section 70 the user, and this tight gripping adds to the 2, and an interposed elbow section 3. These fatiguing effect. v three sections are rigidly .connected to each My present invention aims to overcome other, as for example by clinching arear end these objections by providing an angular casbead 4 on the section 1 and a forward end ing in which the rearward and manually held bead 5 on the section 2 respectively over the '75 portion will slope forwardly upward during radially enlarged ends of the intermediate the ordinary use of the flash-light,thus adaptsect-ion 3. Battery cells 6 and 7 are respecing it to a more normal and much less tiretively disposed in the sections 1 and 2 with some position of the hand. Furthermore, my the axial terminal 8 of each at its forward invention aims to provide afiash-light which end, and these battery cells are limited in will be approximately balanced about the their approach toward each other by suitable first finger of the hand which holds it, so that stop means on the casing, such as annulara quite light grip will suflice. v flanges 9 and 10 formed respectively on the In another major object, my invention aims forward and rear ends of the elbow sec- 35 to locate the switching or light-controlling tlon 3. means so as to aid in securing the approxisupported within the forward end of the mate balancing of such a flash-light about its cas1ng 1n any suitable manner is a lamp bnlb elbow, aims to provide a novel disposition 11 which has its axial contact 12 abut-ting of the switch with respect to the battery cells against the axial contact 8 of the forward batandanovel mounting for the switching memtery cell 6. As a suitable mounting, I am N1 Y ber, and aims to provide simple and effective showing the shell 13 of the lamp bulb base means for holding the battery cells in proper as threaded lnto the tubular rear end 14 of operative position with respect-to the switcha forwardly fiarlng reflector 15 whlch has at ing member. its month an annular flange 16 bear1ng against Moreover, my invention aims toprovide a the forward end of the casing section 1, and 9 flash-light in which the digitally Operable am also showing the threaded reflector end portion of the switching member is conven- 14 as connected by'a stlrrup 17 to an insulatiently reached by the user when he is holding ing washer 18 which fits the bore of the forthe flash-light in a position which will not ward casing section 1 and holds the lamp bulb 0 cause undesirable fatigue. I axial of that sect on. A lens 19 bears against the reflector flange 16 and is drawn rearward by a clamping collar 20, this collar being threaded on the casing section 1 so that its attaching will effect a rigid assembly of the section 1 with the above described parts housed by this section, and with the bulb of the lamp base pressing the battery cell 6 tightly against the stop flange 9.

The free end of the rear casing section 2 is closed by a threadedly attached cap 21, and a compression spring 22 is interposed between this cap and the battery cell? for the double purpose of clamping the cell against the stop flange 10 of the elbow section and of electrically connecting the rear terminal of the cell 7 with the casing.

To connect the two battery cells in series, I interpose a movable switching member between them, and preferably mount this member in the elbow section 3 of the casing. For this purpose, the drawings show a resilient switching element 23 secured to a flat insulator 24 which is pivoted on a pin 35 extending through the elbow section 3 transversely of the common plane of the axes of the forward and rear casing sections. The insulator 2-1 projects through a slot in the outwardly directed side of the elbow sections to expose a ribbed portion 25 for digital manipulation by the user of the flash-light, and the elbow section preferably has this slot in a recess 26 so that the projecting part of the insulator is shielded against accidental contact.

The switching element 23 (which may be of bronze) is shaped so that it will contact with the opposed terminals of both battery cells when the insulator 24 is at one end of its normal movement (as shown in Fig. 2), and so that this switching element will be out of contact with at least one of these terminals when the digitally movable insulator is at the other limit of its movement (as shown in Fig. 1). In practice, I preferably form and dispose this switching element so that it will continuously engage one of the battery cells and so that the resiliency of this element will cause it to be retained in either of its said two extreme positions by this engagement.

Thus, the drawings show the forward arm of the switching element as having a tip portion 23A bent at such anangle to the adjacent main portion that this tip portion will engage the rear end of the battery cell 6 substantially flatwise (as in Fig. 1) to hold the switching member in its off position; while another portion of the switching element will engage the same battery cell 6 in the on or circuit-closing position (as shown in Fig. 2) in which the rear end of the switching element contacts with the axial terminal 8 of the rear battery cell 7. When so arranged, the switching member, in the position of Fig. 1, connects the two batteries in series with each other and with the casing through the filament of the lamp bulb.

With the rear casing section 2 held in the hand of the user and with the exposed insulator portion 25 directed upwardly, this actuating portion of the switching member is dispose-d for convenient reach by the thumb of the same hand, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. With counterpart battery cells and'with the index finger 28 of the hand close to the rear end of the forward casing section, the flash-light is approximately balanced about this finger and requires only a slight pressure to rock it on this finger. Consequently, my flash-light is easily carried with security while grasped so lightly as not to fatigue the user.

What is more, my flash-light can readily be proportioned so that the total weight of the forward casing arm (with its relatively heavy lens, reflector and socket arrangement effectively balances the weight of the rear casing arm about the index finger, so that gravity will tend to hold the flash-light in a position in which the forward arm inclines somewhat downwardly, or substantially the position most needed for path finding. Since this still leaves the manually gripped rear casing sec tion with its axis directed forwardly upward, I entirely avoid the fatigue which would be encountered with the ordinary cylindrical types of flash-lights when using the same for lighting a path. The bend in the casing also deters the flash-light from sliding in the hand of the user, so that the digitally actuable portion 26 of the switching member is always conveniently reached by the thumb of the user. Moreover, a casing of such an angular shape will not roll after the manner of straight cylindrical casings, so that my flash-light can be laid with safety even on a sloping table or bench.

However, while I have pictured and described my flash-light in an illustrative embodiment in which the casing is made up of three sections, in which the switching member is pivotally mounted, and in'which the battery cells are spaced by stops on an elbowforming casing section, I do not wish to be limited to these or other details of the construction and arrangement thus disclosed. Many changes might obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A flash-light comprising a casing, a lamp bulb supported in its forward end, two battery cells disposed within the casing, one of the battery cells having a terminal continuously contacting with the lamp bulb, and control means including a switching member mounted between the two battery cells continuously contacting with the other terminal of the last named battery cell, the switching member including a resilient conducting element and continuously pressing the last named battery cell against the lamp bulb and movable into and out of a position in forward end of the casing, and switching means mounted at the juncture of the said casing portions for controlling the connection of the.battery cells to the lamp bulb; the switching means including a digitally operable portion exposed outwardly of the angle betweenthesaid casing portions so as to be digitally operable by the thumb of a hand grasping the rearward casing portion; the battery cells being symmetrically disposed with respect to the juncture of the casing portions, so 'that the weight of the lens will cause the contents of the forward casing portion tooverbalance those of the rear casing portion, whereby the flashlight will have its forward casing. portion tilted forwardly downward when loosely supported by a finger of the said I hand.

3 A flash-light comprising a tubular casing having the aXes of its forward and rearward portions at an oblique angle to each other, abattery cell in each of the said casing portions, a lamp bulb in the forward end of the casing, and switching means mounted at the juncture of the said casing portions for controlling the connection of the battery'cells to the lamp bulb; the casing having a depression at the said juncture, the depression opening outwardly of the angle between the said casing portions, and the switching means including a digitally operable portion exposed within the said depression.

4. A flash-light comprising a tubular casing having the axes of its forward and rearward portions at an oblique angle to each other, a battery cell in each of the said casing portions, a lamp bulb in the forward end of the casing, and switching means mounted at the juncture of the said casing portions for controlling the connection of. the battery cells to the lamp bulb; the casing having a depression at the said juncture, the depression opening outwardly of the angle between the said casing portions, the casing having a slot in the bottom of the said depression and the switching means including a switching member movably mounted in the casing, the

switching member means including a switching member movably mounted in the casing, the switching member projecting through the depression and being laterally guided by the walls of the slot.

5. A Y flash-light comprising an elbowshaped'tubular casing, two battery cells respecti-vely disposed inthe two arms of the casing, a lamp bulb mounted in the forward arm of the casing and engaging a terminal of the forward battery cell, means electrically connecting the opposite polarity terminal of the rear cell with the other terminal of the lamp bulb, and switching means disposed within the casing between the two cells and operable from outside the casing for connecting the other two terminals of the two cells, the switching means including a member pivoted in the bend of the elbow shaped casing. and arranged for continuously pressing the forward battery cell against the first named terminal of the lamp bulb.

6. A flash-light as per claim 5, in which the switching means include a resilient member pivoted in the bend of the elbow shaped casing and arranged for continuously engaging one battery cell, said resilient member being movable into and out of a position in which it also engages the other battery cell and is so shaped as to latch the switching means yieldingly in either of the two positions in which the said resilient member respectively is in and out of engagement-with the other battery cell. a

7. In a flashlight, a casing comprising a forward section, a rearward section and a separately formed and rigid intermediate tubular section secured to the aforesaid sections to dispose the latter at an oblique angle to each other; a lamp bulb mountedin the forward casing portion, a battery cell in each of the two first named sections, and switchingmeans mounted in the intermediate casing section for controlling thecircuit from the battery to the lamp bulb, the switching means includinga digitally operable element mounted within and projecting through the intermediate section.

8. A flash-light comprising 'a casing hav ing forward and rearward portions of approximately equal length connected at an- I angle to each other by a; bend in the casing, two counterpart battery cells respectively disposed in the said'forward and rearward cas-v ing portions adjacent'to its said bend, both cells having theisame polarity terminal forwardly directed, alamp bulb mounted-in the forward end of the casing and'having its axial terminal engaging the said polarity terminal of the forward battery cell, means electrically connecting the other lamp bulb terminal with the other polarity terminal of the rear battery cell, and a switching member mounted in the said bend of the casing and having an actuating portion projecting through the casing outwardly of the angle of the said bend, the switching member being movable into and out of a position in which it electrically connects the first named polarity terminal of the rearward battery with the opposite polarity terminal of the forward battery.

9. In a flash-light, a casing comprising a tubular elbow having inwardly directed stop formations at each end, and two tubular casing portions respectively secured to the two ends of the elbow; a single battery cell disposed in each tubular casing portion, each cell engaging one of the said stop formations; a lamp bulb mounted in the forward tubular casing portion and engaging the outer end of the battery cell in that easing portion; spring means within the other easing portion engaging the outer end of the batterycell within the last named casing portion; and switching means pivotally mounted in the elbow for selectively connecting the two battery cells in series with each other and with the lamp bulb.

Signed at Evanston, Illinois, May 29th,

CHARLES HAMILTON PAJEAU. 

